Voices from the Field : Featured Report

Bangladesh : This report is the culmination of an interagency assessment conducted in areas of Bangladesh affected by Tropical Storm Mahasen in May 2013. The assessment was coordinated by the Government of Bangladesh and the Shelter, WASH and Early Recovery Clusters with technical support from IFRC and REACH.  The report was commissioned by the Humanitarian Country Task Team (HCTT) of Bangladesh in an effort to assess the specific sectoral needs of the affected population.

There were many challenges associated with this assessment including issues of heavy weather that rendered some areas inaccessible. After adapting to the situation, the assessment identified two intervention priorities: Material distribution and technical support are needed to rehabilitate homes and sanitary facilities damaged by the storm. And cash assistance for livelihood resumption should be used to support local markets and get the economy back on track.

At the same time, the assessment also found that much of the damage to livelihoods in the area as well as some of the displacement was actually due to seasonal changes and was not a direct impact of the tropical storm. Therefore, longer term planning should include disaster risk reduction activities such as embankment improvements, disaster resistant housing, and evacuation and relocation for at-risk population.

With this finding as well as many others, this report will allow shelter, WASH and early recovery actors to target areas with customized assistance based on the resulting gap analysis outlining remaining emergency and long-term needs.

To download the full report, please click here.

To learn more about REACH’s work in Bangladesh, please visit our country page.